Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1887-03-28

final for term of years. Canada
had been asked by Great Britain if a
commission would be satisfactory,
| and she had said, s'most certainly"
The state board or commissioners
to buy a site fer the Bennington
battle monument spent Tuesday and
Wednesday of week before last in
Bennington, with the result that
written refusal was taken of five
parcels or land for the monument
site, this constituting about one-haif
the amount of land which it is pro-
posed to acquire. The remainder
was left open to consideration. The
intention of the board is to procure
a site of about three acres, which will
be laid as a park, in the centre of
which the monument will stand.
The president of the United States
and the governor of Vermont have
Jointly approved of the erection of
monument 250 feet high, instead
of one 800 feet as the association at
first proposed. The reason for this
change is that the board of engineers
reported that the funds in hand,
So, 900 would not build a monument
of more than 250 feet in height.
Mr.. Rim, the architect, has been
instructed to change his plans ac-
cordingly and to procure bids for
monument 250 feet high.
Mr.. Edward AtkinsOn's recent ar
ticles in the Century Mtgdzi"e on
the strength and weakness of nations
are exceedingly valuable and sug-
gestive. They show that, after all,
| the American people, without a
standing army and without fleet, is
| nevertheless in various respects the
strongest nation in the world. Mr..
Atkinson's statistics show that while
less than One-third of the amount i'm
posed in many European countries, it
is possible for each laboring man to
earn nearly twice as much. The
enormous burden of taxation abroad
and the steadily increasing national
| debts, result from the standing az
mics which these countries are oblig-
| ed to keep as a menace to each other,
and it is Mr.. Atkinsons opinion that
this state of affairs will in time result
in revolution and universal bankrupt
| CIV in the old world. In view of the
| facts cited he pertinently asks: els
not our apparent weakness the very
source of our strength? Are we not
stronger without extensive fortifica-
tions, navies, and other ornaments,
than we should be if we spent our
force in constructing them?"
Many more vessels are stranded
through blunders in navigation than
are lost at sea by stress of weather.
When a vessel is run ashore in foggy
weather an error in the compass is
generally assigned as the cause.
Shipmasters employed in the coasting
trade assume the magnetic variation
at one or two points, as the case may
be, in certain waters and shape their
course accordingly, and rarely or
never test their assumption by All
muth observation. 1t is different on
board of iron steamers, or in ships
employed on foreign voyages. These
take azimuths every clear day, by
which they not only obtain true mag
netic bearings, but detect errors caus-
ed by local attraction. In high lati-
tudes on board of iron ships the
standard cOmpasses even are often
defective and the ships are steered
by the stars when they are out. In
foggy weather the compass is their
only guide. Vessels employed in the
coasting trade, now that the foggy
season is at hand, would do well to
provide themselves with azimuth
compasses and learn how to use
them.
The removal of postmaster Carpen-
ter from the St. Johnsbury post-office
before the expiration of his commits
sion, furnishes a striking illustration
of the inconsistency of the admins
nration so far as civil service reform
in Vermont is concerned. No charges
SO far as we know of any sort have
been preferred against him. He was
never known to maze a political
speech in his life. He never held a
political appointment of any kind,
unless the position of postmaster be
so considered. No possible con-
struction of language can maze him
out an ''Otfensive partisan and no
attempt to do so is made. He is sim
ply a republican, he was brave
soldier; he voted for Blaine. Wheth-
er he had held the office as long as
he was entitled to it, had had 'shis
share has nothing to do with the
case. The administration at Wash
ington advertises to remove no faith
full officer except for cause. Mr..
Carpenter is a republican. That
seems to be the cause in this case.
We want to see this administration
succeed in its efforts to reform the
civil service, but we want to see it
consistent.-Cd ledon.an.